The Brewing Storm
by Christmas Spirit of the Brook
Summary: Stormpaw is an apprentice in ThunderClan who is scorned and hated by every one of her Clanmates just because she's weaker than the other apprentices. Their hate is so extreme that they violently drive her out of camp each night and leave her to sleep in the woods. With Twigstar, her only friend, close to death, will she survive in this horrid Clan? Challenge for WritingClan
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, my beautiful fans! Spirit of the Brook here with a challenge for WritingClan! To find out more, check out the forum. It's super coolio! You can even join, if you like. The Brewing Storm is about Stormpaw, an apprentice that is rejected by her whole Clan except her leader, Twigstar. She's driven out of camp and is forced to sleep there, but she always wakes up in the leader's den. This is a (not so) normal day in her life and what happens afterward (this is going to be a multi-chapter story). Hope you enjoy!**

_(pretend there is a line break here)_

****Stormpaw was trapped in a terrible nightmare. At first, it had been a dream. She had been frolicking around in a grassy forest clearing, playing with leaves and truly feeling happy, which was a rare emotion. She had heard a rustle in the bushes behind her and when she had turned, all the cats that resented her flew out from the trees, their paws not even touching the ground.

They surrounded her, growling like a pack of wolves heading in for the kill. Stormpaw cried out for help, but no one appeared at her side. Then she saw her leader, Twigstar, who had been her only companion, among her Clanmates that hated her. He too was snarling and snapping his jaws hungrily. His yellow eyes glowed with a greenish light and when Stormpaw saw his teeth, she couldn't help but let out a quiet shriek of horror. They were crumbling and black and the teeth remaining that weren't decaying were broken and stained red with blood, as if he had been feeding on a wild animal's innards.

The small gray apprentice huddled down on the grass, trying to block out the sound of the deranged cats closing in on her, thirsting for her blood and wanting her to die so they no longer had to worry about her, the burden. She felt Twigstar's hot breath on her neck and for some reason, he was murmuring, as if trying to comfort her.

Stormpaw opened her eyes and she saw a completely different landscape. She was in a stone cave with ivy creeping down the walls. She realized quickly that she was in the leader's den and she got up to leave when she saw Twigstar calmly sitting beside her. His light brown pelt had darker brown stripes crossing over his back and tail. He smiled comfortingly, making Stormpaw break out in sobs.

She told him all about her dreams and how he had been in the mob of vicious, blood-thirsty cats that was her Clan. Most cats would have frowned on how she collapsed on top of her leader like that, with seemingly "no respect". But they didn't understand what Stormpaw had to go through in her life. Each night, she was violently thrown out of camp and forced to sleep in the woods. This would've been a pretty nice thing if it wasn't conducted so viciously and if the cats didn't regard her with scorn.

Stormpaw was the runt and the last kit to be born to her mother. But that last birth had cost her mother her life and the whole Clan resented her because of it. Since no queen would agree to nurse her, the poor kit was introduced to fresh-kill right from the start. The medicine cat gave her a few herbs to help her not feel so hungry all the time, out of pity but as Stormpaw grew older, he gave her less and less until finally, he stopped.

She was weak and undersized and she faced torment every day. She padded out of the den, only to be faced by a group of sneering apprentices. "Done crying, runt?" It was her brother, Flashpaw.

Indeed, he did flash quite an evil grin and his paws could be just as fast. He swiped a stinging blow across her cheek. "Ha, the murderer that can't even defend herself!" one of the other apprentices spat.

Stormpaw didn't even protest. She sat there in shame, her head bowed as she listened to the taunts of the other apprentices. Finally, Flashpaw raised up his paw then dug his claws deep into her thigh. She struggled not to cry again, to show how agitated she was and take down all of the other apprentices. What she didn't know was that she had a secret strength, a power that she had never used. Stormpaw could feel it flowing through her bloodstream, but no one seemed to ever appreciate her enough to teach her how to fight except for Twigstar, who had showed her a few measly beginner moves.

Stormpaw shouldered through the crowd of apprentices and stomped toward the camp entrance. She leaped through the thorns, which pricked at her as fiercely as Flashpaw's claws. But she didn't care. She ran through the trees until she finally reached the spot where she could finally escape from the harsh camp that she called home.

She gazed up at the brown, red, and gold leaves that fluttered down to the ground. It was early leaf-fall but there was already a chill in the air. Stormpaw sneezed as a leaf drifted onto her nose. "Hello, Stormpaw."

An unknown voice rang through the small clearing. The gray she-cat spun around, her green eyes wild. "Who's there?" she mewed, her voice trembling. An elegant ash gray cat walked out from behind a magnificent oak, her eyes identical to Stormpaw's. "I am Ashflower," she meowed in a melodic voice. She was very calm and graceful.

"I'm your mother."

Stormpaw's jaw dropped with shock. "But…but, you're…."she stumbled on her words. "Yes, Stormpaw, I am very much dead," Ashflower sighed. "But it's not your fault. Your Clanmates have been wronged in that way."

"You mean," she started. "You don't hate me for killing you?" Ashflower stared at Stormpaw in confusion. "Are you serious?" she said lightly, laughing. "Why would I hate you?" She stopped when she saw the pained look on the small apprentice's face.

The older she-cat bent down and licked her daughter's head gently. "Stormpaw, you don't have a lot of friends. But you have the whole of StarClan watching over you. Know that you are loved and you are able." With a very bright flash of light, Ashflower was gone, leaving Stormpaw standing there, dumbfounded.

"Who were you talking to?" a male voice meowed behind Stormpaw and she immediately recognized who the owner of the voice was. It was Redfang, ThunderClan's medicine cat. But she saw that his unusual blue eyes were dark with anxiety. "My mother," she said, trembling as she braced herself for the loud laugh from Redfang. But it never came.

Instead, the reddish ginger tom raced forward and gathered his tail around her shoulders. Now, the small apprentice was noticing screeches ringing through the branches. She looked to Redfang, but he was looking straight ahead, his eyes unreadable.

As they got nearer to the camp, the sounds got louder and louder until finally they reached the rim of the camp and what was occurring below was absolute chaos.

Cats were springing upon each other, their eyes wild with rage and their jaws closing in around each other's necks. Stormpaw didn't recognize any of the cats neither could she detect any Clan scent. "We were attacked by rogues while you were gone," Redfang finally explained, tears glistening at the edges of his eyes. At first, Stormpaw couldn't figure out why he was sad then she saw a sight that made her feel like vomiting.

Willowpool, his mother was piled up on a heap of dead felines, her belly torn open and facing the sky. Her mouth was wide open as if she had been crying out to StarClan when she died. Her claw hung crookedly out of her paw, as torn up as her stomach.

Stormpaw stared in horror as the dead fell to the ground quicker than Flashpaw. Her horror was replaced by complete utter fear. Lying in the center of camp was Twigstar, his face twisted in pain and near to death.

**A/N: Utter cliff hanger! I love it! This is the first time that I've actually been able to incorporate a cliffie into the end of a chapter. Is Twigstar going to die and leave Stormpaw helpless and friendless? Or is he going to live and include just one last thing (as in Steve Harvey) that might make her the happiest cat in the world? I just realized that this story could be a prequel to something and I could include a whole prophecy and crap and then… No! Spoilers! Bad Brooke! No cookies for you! Me: NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! Okay, buh-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello! Welcome to The Brewing Storm once again! The last time on… (Stormpaw: Oh my StarClan! Just get to the story!) Ok, geez. I would really appreciate some reviews because it makes my popularity level go up and yours, too! Cuz everybody loves a good, popular story! I don't want to be a big superstar or anything, but I'd really, really appreciate it. I LOVE YOUR FACES! Now, on to the fanfic!**

Stormpaw's blood went cold. Her only friend, her mentor, her protection was slowly dying before her. She sprinted down the hill before Redfang could say anything. She thrust her way in between two huge, snarling rogues and bounded to Twigstar's side.

His breaths came in ragged gasps and the grey apprentice could see the fatal injury that was killing him. "Attention," his voice rang surprisingly clear across the camp. All paused and stared at the ThunderClan leader.

"I, Twigstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn," he began. Stormpaw caught her breath. It was the start of her warrior ceremony and Twigstar was using his last breaths to speak the sacred words.

"Stormpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" he asked.

She gulped then spoke, her voice coming out a little shrill. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Stormpaw, from this moment you will be known as Stormstep. StarClan honors you for your determination and true beauty." Stormstep's breath caught in her throat.

_True beauty, _she thought. _What does he mean? I'm certainly not beautiful like other cats in ThunderClan. What could he possibly mean by _beauty_? _Then, all of a sudden, it dawned on her. _True _beauty was what Twigstar had said, not just beauty, _true _beauty.

Stormstep had never raised a claw in her life unless if it was for truly the best. Nothing had caused her to stray away from the only positive thing in her life: a hopeful future for her.

Then, the most shocking thing that had ever happened in Stormstep's life happened. A rogue started cheering for her. He was a big, muscular brute with a scarred grey pelt and a deep claw strike across his nose dripped blood, but he still cheered for her.

"Stormstep, Stormstep!" he called out in a rough voice. Then another rogue joined in and another and another until all the rogues were cheering at once. "STORMSTEP, STORMSTEP!" The newly named grey warrior thought that the sound could've echoed all the way to the WindClan moors.

Still, ThunderClan hadn't started up the steady roar. They sat there, looking sullen and stubborn, determined to not call out the name of their "murderer". Then Redfang dropped down the slope finally and yowled with all his might, "Stormstep, Stormstep_!"_

Redfang's great announcement apparently made Stormstep's Clan change their minds. They nervously shifted and started chanting Stormstep's new name.

Flashpaw ran up to her and dropped down low, bowing to her awkwardly. "O Goddess, have mercy on us," he cried out. "We have been wronged."

"Goddess?!" Stormstep exclaimed sarcastically. "Ha! I'm still your sister, Flashpaw, the apprentice that just this morning was called a murderer that couldn't defend herself." She looked deep into her brother's amber eyes. "You can still call me names if you like," she whispered.

Stormstep suddenly remembered that Twigstar was still behind her. "Twigstar, could you name Flash-"she started, but saw that the leader of ThunderClan had stopped breathing so harshly. In fact, he wasn't breathing at all.

The dark grey she-cat sat down as steadily and as calmly as she could. Then she lay down at Twigstar's side and pushed her nose into his icy cold fur. A tear slipped out of her eye and rolled down onto his skin. It was so quiet that she could hear the tear mix with blood.

"Thank you, Twigstar, for everything. Say hello to Ashflower in StarClan for me," she whispered to the tom's spirit. Other cats started to huddle around his body and pay their respects to Twigstar before his soul went up to the heavens. His mate, Pinebreeze buried her head into his pelt, whispered a few comforting words, then looked up at Stormstep with a burning glare, like his death had all been her fault.

_I'll get you someday, _she mouthed then vanished into the nursery, where she would gossip as normal about her, spreading nasty rumors that if a queen touched her, their living kits would die and the kits that she expected would be stillborn. It terrified every single she-cat. But Stormstep was sure that if Ashflower were still alive, she would've stopped Pinebreeze's rumors and stood up for her daughter.

But nothing could stop Stormstep now. Nothing.

**A/N: Geez, that was a short chapter. The ending was kinda like she was getting revenge on someone. But no, she's not going to kill Flashpaw (though that would've been a great twist…). Review, children!**


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